THE CALL I DIDN’T WANT TO MAKE

Forever Friendships For Seniors

These days, more and more, the message comes of one or another of long time friends, colleagues, and dear comrades who are in declining health. The news, while not always unexpected, nonetheless reaches deeply into the heart and pulls at memory and the tight bonds created years ago.

Such news prompts a recognition of the utter and irreplaceable value of those relationships, what they came to mean and how much the recall of them is so valued. Old friends, old times, old joys, old recollections, old and forever valued connections.

But, through an ordinary email, innocently, the news came of one of the finest human beings I have known and his struggle with major health issues. It rocks one a bit. It holds up the mirror of reality and reflects how much has passed, how little may be left, how hurtful the moment.

Saying Goodbye

So, I had to call. Although I did not relish the idea of voice to voice contact, anxious about what more I might discover, as would be expected, I heard a familiar sound, experienced a renewal of where we had left off last, shared tid-bits from our current lives, reinforced the mutual joy our long time acquaintance had produced.

He has been, is, and will be always a jewel in the throne of my memory and experience. He remains so, even now, as mobility is severely compromised. He still traffics the hallways of my mind and continues to be at the top of the friends and saints I have known and loved.

The time comes, and so it is coming. The time comes when the hand clasp and the heart strings slip away. They will have communicated their last affirmation, their last warm touch, their final good bye. The heart strings last longer. They will play a melody all my life long of a genuine friend, whose companionship will always remind me of the music we made together.